Coaching means many things to many people. Many times a certain technique that is referred to as “coaching,” isn’t really coaching at all; it’s
actually counseling or feedback. For example, you may
have heard or had this happen to you—a manager will
say, “Let me give you some coaching around ABC,”
and they proceed to explain to an employee why the
employee failed to accomplish a task.

The manager then explains the way ABC needs
to be done. More times than not, the recipient of
this so-called “coaching” walks away disillusioned
by what they think was a coaching experience and
perhaps, deflated and unmotivated. As a result,
coaching can get a bad rap and employees may
begin to disengage.

So what does a real coaching conversation looklike? Well, something like this: “So, how do you thinkyour presentation on ABC went?” The employee isgiven time to reflect, respond and be an active partici-pant in the conversation. The manager continues to askthoughtful questions such as: “What would you havedone differently?” ”What actions will you take?” or“How can I support you?” Do you notice the differ-ence? This is a coaching conversation—the employeeis empowered to act while being supported by theirmanager. The employee gains confidence knowing thatthey own the outcome while feeling acknowledged andsupported by their manager.

Now more than ever, there is a great opportunity to
bring coaching into organizations. According to Gallup’s study on the global workplace, only 13 percent
of employees worldwide are engaged at work or are
psychologically committed to their jobs and likely to
be making positive contributions to their organizations.

Therefore, 63 percent are “not engaged.”If this is the case, then why not integrate coach-ing into your talent management strategy, not only toincrease employee engagement, but to achieve othertalent development goals such as developing certaincompetencies like problem-solving, strategic thinkingor filling your talent pipeline with ready-now talent forupward or lateral assignments?

In order to integrate coaching into your talent management strategy, the following five steps should be taken: